With the strict safety and quality standards of children’s toys, there is absolutely no room for non-compliance. Compliance issues can cause potential health hazards and in some cases fatalities. Here we discuss the importance of toy testing and provide you with an exact outline of toy safety regulations and all of the most recent updates to help you avoid compliance issues, so that you can continue to produce toys of the highest quality. The toy industry is a lucrative one with “toy sales in 2015 increasing by 4% over 2014 to $87.4billion…with estimated growth expected to exceed $90 billion in sales in 2016.”
There is surely continued opportunities for economic growth and sustainable innovation in this massive industry going into 2017 and beyond.
But, the toy market, and product safety specifically, makes it a volatile one.
What happens when due diligence is left by the wayside?
41% of toys that were recalled in the EU alone were due to choking hazards, whilst chemical compositions makes the second largest recall between January 2016 and July 2017.
By looking at the graph below, you will see the breakdown of recalls over this period of time:
The stats above paint a clear picture for importers to abide by toy safety compliance standards, for it is not only in your best economic interest, but also for your brand’s protection and growth.
Today, children’s toys are subject to some of the strictest safety and quality standards in the retail marketplace due to the sensitive nature of their consumer base.
The question is…
How do importers keep up with the latest news in toy safety regulations to avoid potential disasters and recalls as reflected above?
In this blog post, I seek to highlight the EU EN71 safety standards that your imported toys need to comply with. I will also highlight the latest updates of this standard, to ensure you are up to date with the latest in toy compliance.
We also look at the US standard, ASTM F963, where we will highlight the latest updates to ensure that your products are in compliance. Lastly, I seek to provide you with actionable steps to achieving compliance according to these standards and what you can do to continue producing children’s toys of the highest quality.
EN 71
The EN71 is a set of European Product Safety standards that apply to all toys, sold in the European Union. The EN 71 also forms a part of the CE directive. As an importer of children’s toys you will need to ensure that the toys you are importing into Europe are labelled with this CE mark.
This mark basically stipulates that a particular toy is compliant with the safety regulations as laid out by the European Union and its safety standard.
Here is a table of what this standard is inclusive of, but I will also highlight the ones that have been updated recently so that you, know exactly what your products need to be compliant with;
TABLE of EN71
The latest EN71 update includes
The latest children’s toy update and revision of the above table is as follows;
The CEN has published Toy safety standard EN 71-12:2016 for n-nitrosamines and n-nitrosatable substances. This standard is expected to be harmonized under Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC by publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
Major change of the new version includes this;
- More stringent limits of n-nitrosamines and n-nitrosatable substances for toys intended for use by children under 36 months and intended or likely to be placed into the mouth of the child.
- a modified definition for ‘elastomer’ from ISO 472:2013 (Plastics – Vocabulary, for better clarity)
- a new procedure for the extraction process for toys and parts of toys other than balloons
- use of porous graphitic carbon (PGC) reversed phase (C18) high performance liquid chromatography (HLPC) columns as an additional option for analysis
- an additional set of multiple reaction monitoring-transitions (MRM-transitions) for quantification and identification
What this revision should mean for your sourcing and production strategies
This standard is applicable to the following products;
- Toys and parts of toys made from elastomers and intended for use by children under 36 months
- Toys and parts of toys made from elastomers and intended to be placed in the mouth
- Finger paints for children under 36 months
Manufacturers will need to provide evidence of compliance from the supplier of these materials, before the manufacturing of these items can proceed. There may also be a random sampling after mass production for post production testing to ensure you are not in violation of the above safety regulations.
ASTM F963-16
Das ASTM F 963-16, The Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety, is a comprehensive standard that addresses numerous hazards that have been identified with toys.
The latest ASTM F963 update includes
- Among the changes, the 2016 revision addresses ride-on toys with: a new curb impact requirement, a clarification of overload and stability requirements, and a strap exemption.
- new labelling requirements for toys that have certain small coins or button batteries,
- temperature and current-limiting requirements for lithium-ion batteries, and
- new requirements for materials and toys that could expand if accidentally swallowed.
- Other revisions include:
– new soaking and compression tests for magnets
– new requirements and clarifications related to microbiological safety;
– clarifications to heavy elements requirements for toy substrate materials
– revised requirements for toys involving projectiles; and,
– clarification of requirements and supplemental guidance for impact hazards.
What this revision should mean for your sourcing and production strategies
You will have noticed that all children’s toys that have been produced after 30 April 2017 needed to be tested according to ASTM F963-16.
According to ASTM F963-16 all toys that are intended for children of 12 years old and under need to be tested by a registered CPC third party testing and quality provider, who will then furnish you with the appropriate product specific CPC which declares that your product complies with the federal toy safety standard.
Suggestions for complying with these toy testing regulations
As an importer you may be feeling overwhelmed about adhering to the regulations as laid out above and while you should be doing everything you can to adhere to them, here we lay out a few suggestions of how to go about doing this;
- You need to work towards improving quality control procedures by strictly monitoring the quality of raw materials. Do not fall into the trap of using cheaper, substandard materials. Whilst this may be appealing for cost reduction, you will be putting your brand at unnecessary risks.
- Improving your products quality always needs to be a primary goal. Many of the new updates in regulation also stipulate the use of a third party quality provider as mandatory for your products compliance.
- Ensure you use a third party company that is up to date with the latest in toy testing and safety regulations. This will reduce the risks of potential product recalls resulting in a bad image for your brand, but also a loss in revenue.
- Seek new non-toxic environmentally-friendly raw materials. How do you go about sourcing your raw materials? This may step may be a little more difficult to pursue, but let’s take a look at Lego. Their blocks are made of plastic, but currently, they are investing loads of money and time into finding alternatives to plastic for their famous building blocks. It’s this kind of commitment that ensures a positive and innovative position in the market place.
Understanding the regulations and what they mean for your current sourcing strategy for children’s toys will help give appropriate direction and guidelines to your current competitive positioning in the market place.
By understanding these regulations and ensuring compliance according to them, you are able to guard yourself against potential product recalls and even potential lawsuits that could come from health and safety violations that are sadly too often found within children’s toys.
“API is equipped to meet the above product testing and safety requirements accordingly to ensure your brand’s safety and protection.”
A social compliance audit can be difficult to attain, but is an absolute necessity for that transparent supply chain your consumers today are demanding.
A social compliance audit ensures that a factory and its practices are abiding by all local laws and that you meet all of the social obligations as set out by the guidelines of the audit, from fair wages to no instances of child labor in a factory.
In this blog post, I will outline the exact procedure of this audit, the benefits it offers to your consumer electronics brand and how you can go about conducting this audit for yourself.
So, let’s dive in…
Document reviews – Auditors will check all the documentation of the supplier to determine the presence of any possible child labour, an all too common violation within the consumer electronics industry. They also assess whether there are any violations of extended working hours and wages. They will also look into what types of social insurance are available to workers and review any fire and safety documentation, which will help to determine whether or not any safety precautions or plans are in place. They will also inspect whether or not there is any environmental monitoring being done and, if so, how it is conducted.
Employee interviews – The auditors conduct interviews with the factory in question staff, where they ask them about their working hours, overtime, and about their holiday/leave time. Auditors also like to cross check these statements by interviewing factory management to ensure there are no discrepancies. This helps to clarify whether there are any instances of abuse or misconduct between staff and management. In the case of a re-audit these interviews will then be conducted again to ensure improvement plans are being implemented properly.
Closing meeting with audit status – This meeting reveals the audit results of your CE factory and also makes suggestion for improvements. If you use 
In understanding the ethical compliance standards as laid out above, you are able to make informed decisions about the suppliers you choose to use in the manufacturing of your electrical products.
Es stellt sich heraus, dass 
Viele Unternehmen verfügen nicht über die umfangreichen geografischen Netze, die größere Einzelhändler haben.
Daher verbringen Ihre internen Mitarbeiter viel Zeit mit Reisen für Qualitätskontrollen und haben nicht genug Zeit, sich auf die Qualität eines Produkts zu konzentrieren. Dadurch verlangsamen sich oft die Produktionsprozesse, und die Zeit bis zur Markteinführung wird länger.
Nehmen wir das Beispiel des Fidget Spinners: Wie groß ist die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass Ihr internes Team von der Nichtkonformität erfährt, bevor das Produkt auf den Markt kommt?
Denken Sie darüber nach.
Ein Vorfall wie der oben beschriebene setzt Ihre Marke einem unnötigen Risiko aus, das zu schlechter Publicity und erheblichen Umsatzeinbußen führen kann.
Dose Kann sich Ihre Organisation das leisten?
Einige Prüfgeräte sind möglicherweise nur für ein bestimmtes Produkt geeignet, oder die Prüfverfahren werden aktualisiert, um den jüngsten Änderungen der Vorschriften Rechnung zu tragen.
Oft sind externe Anbieter in der Lage, technische Lösungen auf der Grundlage der oben genannten Spezifikationen anzubieten, zusammen mit Teams, die sich mit den neuen Prüfverfahren gut auskennen.
Externe Anbieter schicken ihre Inspektoren oft zu Schulungen, damit sie sich mit neuen Geräten und Prüfverfahren vertraut machen können, um sicherzustellen, dass eine qualitativ hochwertige Dienstleistung mit einer minimalen Rückrufquote angeboten wird.
Für externe Qualitätsdienstleister ist es von vorrangiger Bedeutung, über die neuesten Trends und Entwicklungen in Ihrer Branche auf dem Laufenden zu sein und die besten Verfahren zu kennen, die Sie befolgen sollten.
Diese Art von Wissen und Erfahrung kann zu Ihrem Wettbewerbsvorteil genutzt werden.
Ihr Produkt.
Wenn Sie all dies zusammenzählen, werden Sie feststellen, dass die Gewinnspannen höher sind und dass Sie in der Lage sind, Angebot und Nachfrage Ihrer Produkte zu befriedigen, was Ihnen den gewünschten Wettbewerbsvorteil verschafft.
Werfen wir einen kurzen Blick auf die Lösung Technical Compliance File;
Dies ist eine Compliance-Lösung, die Ihnen einen zuverlässigen und genauen Einblick in Ihre Compliance-Prozesse ermöglicht.
Sie wird über eine webbasierte Plattform angeboten und ist eine 
Inspektionsberichte sind für die Freigabe von Sendungen durch den Zoll unerlässlich. Es ist Sache des Einzelhändlers und Ihres Qualitätsanbieters, eine Richtlinie für die Bewertung der Berichte aufzustellen.
Diese Richtlinie für die Berichtsbewertung bildet eine Grundlage für die Automatisierung, die den Umfang der manuellen Änderungen nach der Überprüfung der Berichte verringert. Die manuelle Überprüfung dieser Berichte verlangsamt die automatischen Versandprozesse immens und der gesamte Prozess wird weniger sinnvoll.
Ein externer Qualitätsanbieter ist in der Lage, Sie mit Branchenkenntnissen und bewährten Verfahren in Bezug auf Ratingberichte zu versorgen. Außerdem können Sie Ihre Rating-Berichte an die Anforderungen Ihres Produkts anpassen.
Sobald der Ratingbericht erstellt ist, kann Ihr Qualitätsdienstleister seine technischen Systeme nutzen, um tägliche Berichte sowohl an den Kunden als auch an das von Ihnen gewählte Frachtunternehmen zu senden. Dadurch wird der Freigabeprozess sowohl für Sie als auch für das Transportunternehmen wesentlich klarer und schneller.
Der Berg an Papierkram - von Einfuhrlizenzen bis hin zu vollständigen Inspektionsberichten - ist für sie kein Problem mehr, so dass sie einen rationalisierten, effizienten Prozess für Ihr Unternehmen ermöglichen.
Dies ist häufig darauf zurückzuführen, dass die internen Qualitätskontrollteams viel reisen müssen, was bedeutet, dass sie nicht genug Zeit haben, um die Genehmigungen zu erteilen, die für eine rechtzeitige Freigabe der Sendungen erforderlich sind.
Ich will mich nicht wiederholen, aber ein internes Team, das die mit dem Versand verbundene Logistik bewältigen kann, wäre zweifellos ein Traum, aber um sicher durch den Zoll zu kommen, muss man in all den anderen oben genannten Punkten effizient sein.
Interne Teams, die nicht über genügend Zeit, Ressourcen und technisches Fachwissen verfügen, werden es schwer haben, mit Problemen fertig zu werden, die andernfalls hätten vermieden werden können.
Also, so sieht es aus...
Das Qualitätsmanagement ist ein komplexes System, das 100% Ihrer Aufmerksamkeit und Konzentration erfordert.
Sind Sie in der Lage, diese Art von Zeit und Ressourcen zu investieren, um genau das zu gewährleisten?
Das ist eine Frage, die viele nicht beantworten wollen, aber die Realität ist, dass Sie sich die Zeit und die Ressourcen nicht leisten können, die nötig sind, um ein vollständig optimiertes Qualitätssystem zu schaffen, das qualitativ hochwertige Produkte für Ihre Marke pünktlich produziert.
Und was dann?
Es könnte sich lohnen, einen externen Qualitätsdienstleister zu beauftragen, der Ihnen die Zeit und die Ressourcen zur Verfügung stellt, die Sie für die Rationalisierung Ihrer Lieferkettenabläufe benötigen.
Ein externer Qualitätsdienstleister kann Ihnen Folgendes bieten;
* Die neuesten Produktvorschriften
* Technisches Fachwissen
* Er verfügt über die geeignete Technologie, um Ihre Abläufe zu optimieren
* Sie verfügen über das Know-how, wie Sie die internationale Logistik für Ihre Marke meistern können.
So können Sie sich auf das konzentrieren, worin Sie gut sind: die Herstellung hochwertiger Produkte und die Schaffung eines weltweit wettbewerbsfähigen Vertrauensverhältnisses zu Ihren Kunden.
Haben Sie Erfahrung in der Zusammenarbeit mit Qualitätskontrolldiensten von Dritten? 
Product specification can look anything like your products dimensions, the volume, it’s weight, the color and any specific labeling that it may need to meet regulation.
In your specifications you need to ensure that you are as specific as you can possibly be, from specific color palettes to the maximum weight of an electric blender. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for your supplier to meet your specifications.
These specifications will also provide your supplier’s quality control team with a standard/guide to monitor the production of the item appropriately.
This is where the 
A laptop’s battery overheating that when unattended whilst charging can cause fires would be classified as a critical defect.
Therefore an important question you should be asking your supplier before all this is, how they will go about preventing any quality issues that may arise during your operation?
Understanding how your supplier handles quality pressures and compliance procedures will help define what kind of relationship you have with them.
Before mass production, your supplier needs to provide you with a 
Managing product defects can also be addressed after mass production through a .jpg)
is also a dedicated IT team to ensuring the safety of the software and only API employees are allowed to make modifications to the platform.
Many of the compliance complexities that arise are in the collection and gathering of all the necessary documentation. Many manufacturers, importers and retailers today are still operating on outdated systems like spreadsheets, creating unreliable data and documentation, which creates an almost insurmountable task trying to maintain the information for each product reference. 
you insight into your compliance status whenever you need it. There are also progress charts allowing you actionable insight into timelines and your supplier progress. This solution is also able to store all your documents for up to 10 years, ensuring your documents are safely stored for any future reference. 
Beide Einzelhändler sahen sich innerhalb ihrer Lieferketten mit erheblichen Problemen konfrontiert, einer von ihnen hatte sogar zuvor die Dienste eines externen QS-Anbieters in Anspruch genommen, der jedoch keine Fortschritte bei der Bewältigung der Probleme mit ihnen machte.
The quality of a product can be defined in many ways and is almost always dependent on your specific consumer and their definition of quality for your specific item. So in that light, you will need to know exactly what your consumer is looking for to create the quality your brand is looking to achieve.
When a consumer sets out to look for a quality product, they want to feel as though they have paid less than what the actual product is worth, the quality of the product far surpassing the amount they ended up paying. Fulfilling the need to exceed the consumer’s expectations, this is what true quality is all about.
If fulfilling the need to meet your consumer’s expectations is at the top of your company’s agenda, is it not essential for your brand’s products to meet a level of quality that does just that? Let me leave you pondering that for a bit.
In attempting to understand your customer’s definition of quality, it will be important to note that fulfilling consumer expectation and experience forms a part of that definition.
Let me give you an example; If a consumer orders a product that has met and passed all quality tests it needed to meet, that product for all intents and purposes is a quality item. But, if the order arrives later than promised or arrives with a missing screw or the incorrect color, the consumer may not define this product as an item of value and quality.
Striving for product quality is a stems right from the raw materials used, to the way in which it arrives to your customer, therefore every step needs to be taken into consideration.
craze of fidget spinners and, where 200, 000 of these spinners have been recalled due to it 
they want to know where its raw materials were sourced, how it was made, who made it and what its level of quality is. They ask themselves whether or not your product will be an investment in their lives.
The key here will be to know your target market, know your consumer. If you do not know what they want, you will struggle to be their go-to brand; you will lose out on their brand evangelism and praise affecting your bottom line
“Is this the type of brand and product you wish to create?”
Retailers today are under so much pressure with the current supply and demand of products, that quality and/or compliance is not always a priority.
“But, it should be!”
Bad quality and non-compliance both mean that your brand is at an unnecessarily high risk with regards to meeting regulations and your reputation. It will be worth all the hard yards that you put in from the creation and design to the manufacturing and distribution of your products. This will help mitigate unnecessary risk, saving you money and precious time.
A POA is essential for filling out shippers exportation documents. This exportation document cannot be completed without a valid POA. Without it, your shipment will not be released, costing you time and money.
“So, what happens when one of these documents are not in order?”
You incur costs that begin adding up on a daily basis. Your shipment will be warehoused, where you will be billed for every day your shipment is there. It will be time consuming. Much of the paperwork mentioned above takes time to complete, but now you will be waiting on paperwork while raking up warehouse fees. This is not an ideal situation but can be avoided with thorough, well-kept, organized paperwork and a dash of patience to go along with it.
